September 8 Board Meeting: Unveiling the 2018 Strategic Plan!

At our next CGS Board Meeting, on Saturday, September 8, we will be unveiling the 2018 Strategic Plan, an ambitious proposal to reorganize and update the organization to better serve our members and secure our future.

Proposed organizational chart based on the 2018 Strategic Plan (click to enlarge)

The SPC has set out an aggressive Goals & Action Plan with six main goals and 43 proposed specific actions. Primary goals:

1. Attract new members and meet the needs of existing members.
2. Expand and improve our educational programs.
3. Attract and retain more volunteers.
4. Sustain our outreach efforts.
5. Continue to improve our library
6. Achieve a sustainable financial base for the society.

Members can read the entire plan on our website at "Minutes and Reports" under the Membership tab (login required). 

The plan has been nearly a year in the making, with input from numerous members and stakeholders. The Strategic Planning Committee began last fall by interviewing members on each of the active CGS committees to hear their thoughts about CGS’ strengths and weaknesses. The board has reviewed different parts of the plan at its last three board meetings. Now it is time to hear from YOU.

The September 8 board meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. (30 minutes earlier than our usual time) and will be held in the conference room at CGS, 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland. We welcome your interest and hope to see you there! 

Copyright © 2018 by California Genealogical Society

Strategic Planning Committee Update

Chris Pattillo of the Strategic Planning Committee reports:

Since December 2017 a small group of CGS members has been meeting monthly to create a strategic plan for our society. The group includes President Vicky Kolakowski, Past President Jane Lindsey, board members Stewart Traiman, James Russell and me. Past President Linda Okazaki and member Marisela Meskus have also contributed.

In January and February Stewart and I met with representatives from all but one of CGS’s active committees. Our purpose was to solicit input on what is working well with the society and to hear ideas about what we could be doing differently. That series of interviews netted 106 specific suggestions, which were then ranked by the committee members to identify top priorities. 71 suggestions were ranked No. 1 or No. 2. 

To help focus our efforts we developed this mission statement for the strategic planning committee: 

The Strategic Planning Committee will devise a plan for the California Genealogical Society’s continued success. To insure the longevity of the California Genealogical Society and Library by identifying the society’s and members’ needs then creating a plan that will address those needs. Goals will be set for 1, 3, and 5 years that will be implemented by Committee members, Board Members and volunteers.

The committee identified 8 specific things to focus on and developed specific proposals for how to achieve them. These include:

• A plan to update our website
• A proposal to create a Member Interest Database
• A plan to host webinars
• A formalized training program
• An update to our organization chart that better reflects how the society functions
• A proposal to update our membership fee structure
• A proposal to charge for some classes
• A proposal and schedule for implementing the Strategic Plan

We received input on these proposals from the Board of Directors at the May and June meetings. The timeline is to present the final report to the Board at the September meeting. Implementation will begin immediately thereafter for a proposal approved by the Board.

Copyright © 2018 by California Genealogical Society